The time has arrived for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
Several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor have gone into this, so we’re more than ready to post it.
With that please dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road!
Every year, one of the things I look forward to most, is mapping out the upcoming football season — charting the games I believe will have the greatest impact.
First and foremost, it’s a preseason menu for area fans who enjoy driving to some of the Big Country’s best football games on a weekly basis. Call it a football roadmap of sorts.
But be advised: This roadmap almost always begins taking some detours by Week 4 or 5 when some of the area’s surprise teams emerge. And make no mistake, there are always surprises.
That’s half the fun.
The past two years, Tristan Beal represented half of one of the more unique quarterback situations in the state of Texas, sharing the trigger-man position with dynamic athlete Brayden Henry in a true QB tandem.
Used primarily as a pocket passer to complement Henry’s explosiveness in the quarterback run game, Beal shined, playing a prominent role in back-to-back district championships for the Eagles.
With Henry graduating and moving to the college ranks at Division II Colorado State University Pueblo last spring, Beal will take over the quarterback position in a more traditional way this fall. And the experience he gained while passing for 3,068 yards with a 36-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio as a sophomore and junior has the now-veteran signal caller — and his coach — feeling really good about the situation.
After going undefeated through league play last year to extend their district championship streak to three years, the Abilene High Eagles could look a little different in 2026.
In addition to replacing offensive coordinator Colby Hartfield, who left in the spring to take the same position at Dallas-Fort Worth area power Denton Guyer, AHS will likely be playing more young players than fans have grown accustomed to seeing during the Eagles’ program-reestablishing run.
Charged with replacing 30 lettermen, including six starters on both sides of the football, Fullen will be leaning on a talented group of sophomores to fill holes around his 29 returners. And while inexperience could lead to some growing pains early, the veteran coach is confident this team will rise to meet the program’s lofty expectations.
With 42 returning lettermen on this year’s roster, the Wylie football team will have experience back at virtually every position. But the Bulldogs’ linebacking corps, in particular, could be an embarrassment of riches.
In Bo Kates, Cooper Hill, Landry Pate and converted safety Carter Nelson, WHS will have four seniors starting at the position this fall — all with at least one season of varsity starting experience under their belt.
And with a combined 384 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, nine sacks and one interception collected among that group a year ago, coach Clay Martin is expecting that quartet to help lead a defensive resurgence in 2026.
Last year, the Wylie football team found itself on the wrong end of a three-way tie for third place in District 2-5A Division II, resulting in the Bulldogs left on the outside of the playoff picture for the first time since 2021 and just the fourth time since 1993.
With a remarkable 42 lettermen returning from that 5-5 squad, including seven offensive and eight defensive starters, coach Clay Martin’s squad has every intention of capping that drought at a single season.
With experience at virtually every position group and chip on their shoulder, the Bulldogs will be looking to return to district title contention this fall — an even-year tradition for WHS since 2022.
At 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, Jamarion Dunson won’t be the biggest linebacker on any field he takes, but there’s high likelihood that the Cooper senior will be one of, if not the best prepared.
And as a direct result, there’s also a good chance he’ll be one of the most productive.
A true student of the game who loves practice and lives in the film room, Dunson reads and reacts with an efficiency that allows him to play even faster than he is. And due in large part to the preparation he puts in to be ready for Friday nights, he’s grown into a natural leader for the Cougars through his play, words and example.
The Scott Stewart era is set to begin at Cooper, and the longtime Cougars assistant feels this year’s team is both ready and equipped to continue a run of success that has seen the program produce 19 consecutive playoff seasons.
With 26 lettermen returning, including five offensive and six defensive starters, and call-ups from a 9-1 junior varsity team filling any gaps created by graduated losses, the CHS staff feels good about the nucleus it’s building from this fall.
That, combined with a smooth transition from former coach Aaron Roan, who resigned in May to become the associate athletic director for Abilene ISD, to Stewart — Roan’s longtime defensive coordinator — has both the coaches and players excited about their chances of contending in District 2-5A Division II and beyond in 2026.
STEPHENVILLE — If there is anything lacking in the coaching ranks of Texas High School football, in many locations it would be stability.
In an age where fickle fans and capricious school boards can make the thought of leaving some programs quite appealing, Stephenville is showing an uncommon level of stability.
Granted, a high level of success lends itself to a stable coaching climate and under Sterling Doty, who has posted a 76-19 mark and two state titles since 2019, there isn’t a real big push to show him the door. Nonetheless, Doty’s coordinators — Kolt Kittley (offense) and August Dobraski (defense) — have been serving in the same capacity on his staff since his days at Magnolia.
Kittley is entering his 12th season of overseeing Doty’s offense while Dobraski is now in his ninth season of directing Doty’s stop troops. What makes this longevity so exceptional is that both assistants are coveted targets for programs looking for new head coaches.
Both have championship rings and a proven track record on their respective sides of the football. Yet both (at least for now) are happily remaining as key pieces to one of the most stable big-school staffs in the Big Country.
STEPHENVILLE — At first, the numbers, don’t look great. Seven offensive and four defensive starters back with 31 lettermen having received their diplomas.
But if there is any team in the Big Country with a history of overcoming such losses — any team with the resources to keep rolling — it is the top-ranked Stephenville Yellow Jackets.
Coming off a seventh state championship season which saw them post a 16-0 mark, the ‘Jackets have 22 lettermen returning, including several key players, and a gifted 10-0 JV team supplying the new faces. A youthful defense, however, will likely be the critical element to whatever success the ‘Jackets achieve in 2026.
“We only return four players on defense,” coach Sterling Doty said. “But we’ve got some really good players coming back offensively, with our quarterback (Trot Jordan, 3,241 passing yards, 45 TDs), our tailback (Zyler McClendon, 1,702 rushing yards, 28 TDs), some receivers and on our offensive line.”
GAME PHOTOS COURTESY OF GR PRODUCTIONS
BROWNWOOD — He may not fit into the cookie cutter mold of every college football recruiter. But Brownwood coach Jeryl Brixey is firmly convinced that senior safety Wyatt Wolf is going to be a steal for whichever university signs him.
Wolf, a 5-11, 180-pound honor student with an extraordinary football IQ and a penchant for finding the football, is one of those players who can fit into several different roles.
As is, he’s penciled in at high safety, low safety, outside linebacker, backup receiver and emergency quarterback.
BROWNWOOD — Whatever success the Brownwood Lions achieve in 2026 may be less a case of execution than survival. To put it bluntly, Brownwood’s first six games of this season could very well be the toughest row of opponents faced by any Class 4A DII team in Texas.
If the young Lions can come out of their non-district portion reasonably healthy (regardless of record), they could be battle-hardened enough to snag a playoff spot by season’s end.
So how difficult is this slate? How about a road game at Class 5A Wylie (Aug. 28), followed by home dates with state 4A DI state champion Stephenville (Sept. 4) and perennial toughie Springtown (Sept. 11). A road date with 4A regional contender Graham will come on Sept. 18 and a road date at always tough China Spring will follow a week later.
If that isn’t tough enough, the Lions will begin play in District 13-4A DII on Oct. 9 against another perennial power, Waco La Vega, at Gordon Wood Stadium.
GLEN ROSE — With only five starters back offensively, Glen Rose has a bit of retooling to do offensively in 2026. The good news for the Tigers is, their trigger man returns as one of the best in the Big Country Preps coverage area.
Junior quarterback Judd Connally, who is coming off a remarkable sophomore campaign, is back to lead the Glen Rose attack. And if he improves on his numbers from last year, one can expect first-year coach Jeff Pair’s crew to keep the scoreboard operators busy throughout 2026.
“I feel like with an added year, I’ll be able to diagnose the defenses quicker and be able to throw the ball with a lot more accuracy,” Connally said. “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot stronger since last year, so maybe I can throw with more power and be able to throw it farther downfield.
“Last year, I may not have been able to do that, because I wasn’t as strong.”
GLEN ROSE — As with most high school football teams heading into the season, the Glen Rose Tigers have their share of ifs.
But there is at least two “ifs” that Glen Rose must see answered in the positive if it is to have a deep playoff run and pose a threat to the rest of Region I-4A DII.
“If” the Tigers can retool their offensive line and develop enough additional skill to compliment standout quarterback Judd Connally, by season’s end they will be fielding a team that is no fun to play. In that scenario, a deep playoff run is beyond possible, it is likely.
When discussing the 2026 season, fourth-year Mineral Wells coach Cody Worrell doesn’t mince words or sugar coat the situation his team’s finds itself in.
After graduating the bulk of their playmakers from last year’s 4-7 squad, the Rams will need an experienced offensive line group to be a significant strength from the start of the season to if they hope to reach the playoffs for a third straight year and improve upon last year’s results.
Fortunately, the likelihood of that happening is very strong given both the track record and cohesiveness of that group. So when Worrell says that unit will need to be the “heart and soul of the team,” he does so knowing — not hoping — that that’s likely already the case.
On the surface, Mineral Wells’ 4-7 record in 2025 may not seem like much. But it was enough to earn a frequently short-handed Rams team consecutive playoff berths for the second time since 2018 and just the fourth time since the mid-1990s.
Should coach Cody Worrell’s team return to the postseason this fall — a major goal for the coach and his team — it would mark just the second time in program history that MWHS reached the playoffs in three consecutive years.
To achieve that, the Rams will need some playmakers to emerge after graduating the bulk of their skill talent in May. But Worrell is hoping an experienced line group will provide a strong foundation to build upon as his less experienced skill players grown into their new roles.
If you were to custom build a prototypical, college-sized offensive tackle, he might look a lot like Graham’s Tyson Louder.
A mammoth among mammoths on a veteran Steers line that averages over 300 pounds per man, Louder enters his senior season and third year as a varsity starter at 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds.
But elite size is just one of many attributes that makes the the standout tackle so special. Louder also brings intelligence to his spot on the GHS O-line and packs a surprising amount of athleticism into his substantial frame, creating a total package that makes him one of the top lineman in the region, if not the entire state.
In 2024, a senior-heavy and experience-rich Graham team claimed a district championship on its way to a 12-2 record.
After posting a 9-4 mark with a less seasoned squad last fall, coach Clay McChristian is comparing this year’s roster to the loaded one that experienced so much success two years ago.
With 22 lettermen back from last year’s team, including 10 of 11 offensive starters, the Steers have the look of a regional contender. And while they’ll need to rebuild a defense that graduated eight first-string players, McChristian is confident in the hungry group coming that’s ready for its turn to shine.
BROCK — While Brock High School adopted football in 2012 and played an independent schedule in 2013, it is important to note that the Eagles have never won fewer than 11 games in a season since they began playing in UIL districts in 2014.
And all along, there has been a common denominator attached to all those years of success which includes a state title in 2015 — offensive lines that varied between very good and great.
True to form, the sixth-ranked Eagles enter this season as a contender for the 4A DII state championship. In order to achieve that goal, however, Brock must retool its offensive line yet again after being hit hard by graduation. And true to form, a group of seniors — Waylon Winfrey, Brody Riker and Hagan Johnson are ready to carry the torch and keep Brock’s tradition of excellent offensive line play alive.
“I think the biggest thing is culture,” Winfrey said. “At Brock, it’s an expectation that every year we’re going to have a good O-line that is going to go out there and punish people.
“Everybody knows about the expectations and nobody wants to be the first group not to meet those expectations.”
There’s some pressure on this group. In fact, Brock’s ability to reload up front in 2026 may very well be the key to the Eagles’ chances of playing for a state championship.
BROCK — There are certain things one can take for granted during the football season in Central Texas. The sun will rise in the east. It will set in the west. And the Brock Eagles will field a solid football team, regardless of how hard graduation hits them.
That’s not an exaggeration.
In fact, since the school began playing football in 2012, the Eagles have never posted a losing record. And since they’ve been eligible for the playoffs (beginning in 2014), they have never failed to reach postseason play and have never won fewer than 11 games in a season. They won a 3A DI state title in 2015, and finished as state runners-up in 2017, 2021 and 2022.
The point is, just because the Eagles have lost 19 lettermen and return a modest five starters on both sides of the ball, one shouldn’t envision the Eagles taking a step back in 2026. Quite the contrary. The Eagles, in all likelihood, will reload with enough ammo to threaten for another regional title and a possible trip to Arlington.
SNYDER — Anthony Gonzalez had already built a struggling program at Lovington N.M. into a three-time state champion. He had things rolling in the Land of Enchantment and as far as many were concerned, he had no reason to leave.
Several calls came in, inviting him to more lucrative settings. But the answer was always “no thank you.”
That is, until Snyder called. The Tigers were struggling, but had demonstrated in the past that they were capable of a high level of success. And to the surprise of many, Gonzalez took the gig, accepting the challenges of low numbers, a lack of culture and the Texas pressure cooker all in one fell swoop.
We now converse with Gonzalez about his experience thus far in Snyder (1-19 through two seasons) and what he’s hoping to build in this Big Country Preps Q&A.
SNYDER — Two years into the rebuilding project at Snyder, coach Anthony Gonzales and the Tigers are showing signs of setting a firm, lasting foundation.
While the Tigers are 1-19 under Gonzales including a 0-10 mark last year, Snyder was 6-4 at the JV level and its freshman team was 7-3. As those players begin rising through the ranks, they bring with them a culture of winning that the program will need to begin taking a significant step forward.
“They’re starting to figure things out,” Gonzales said. “We’ve got a good group of young kids with a few sophomores who can help us right now and we’ve got some good JV kids who can fill some holes for us.”
But it gets even better than that. Snyder is now welcoming a group of freshmen on campus that lost only two games in two seasons of middle school football. In other words, the Tigers are on the cusp of a talent upswing the likes of which has been unseen in several years at SHS.
If that youthful talent is to have an impact however, the Tigers must quickly develop a new quarterback and running back while playing an extremely difficult non-district schedule. This, with a team featuring only about seven impact seniors, with standout WR/DB Ethan Rios having graduated.
Since novelist Thomas Wolfe coined the phrase in a 1940 novel, it’s been said many times and by many people that “you can’t go home again.”
Well … new Big Spring coach Stacey Martin is certainly going to give it a try.
Hired away from his position as Midland High’s defensive coordinator, Martin will return to the school for which he played and graduated in the early 1990s. And it was precisely the opportunity to return home and elevate his alma mater to a higher level that attracted him to the post.
After playing the past seven years under coach Cannon McWilliams, the Big Spring Steers will have a new voice in 2026. They’ll also have a bevy of new faces at key positions on both sides of the football.
Following McWilliams’ departure for Crane over the offseason, BSHS alum Stacey Martin was tabbed to take over the Steers football program in May. And one of his biggest challenges in Year 1 will be finding playmakers to replace a talented and seasoned skill group lost to graduation from last year’s 5-5 team.
Big Spring returns just five starters on both sides of the ball, and the bulk of its experience can be found on the lines. That will leave Martin and his staff looking for new sources of production in all phases as the Steers try to extend their playoff streak to eight consecutive years in a new six-team Class 4A Division II district.
As is the case at most positions on both sides of the ball this season, the quarterback spot at Wall will feature a new starter in 2026.
And in following the footsteps of Landon York, who completed 501 of 759 passes for 7,786 yards with a 107-to-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the past two seasons — leading the Hawks to a 16-0 state championship run last fall — no player in the state will have bigger shoes to fill.
But in senior Gunner King, WHS not only has a player its staff feels can do the job at a high level, it has a signal caller who is embracing the challenge of replacing a record-setting predecessor. His goal is not just to keep the Hawks competitive through heavy graduation losses and a move to Class 3A Division I, it’s to sustain the elite level of play Wall has gotten from the QB position since moving to the spread ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Coming off the greatest season in program history and one of the most dominant by any program in recent memory, the Wall Hawks will enter the 2026 campaign with a tough act to follow.
But despite graduating 23 of its 40 lettermen, returning just three starters on both sides of the ball and making the jump to Class 3A Division I at realignment, coach Craig Slaughter and his squad will happily accept the (sometimes unfair) expectations that come with unprecedented success.
While the Hawks will look different in 2026, their goals will not. Those returning from last year’s 16-0 run to the Class 3A Division II state championship have every hope of returning to Arlington in December, and the call-ups from a 10-0 junior varsity team who will be filling the holes left by a sizeable graduating class are ready to make their own marks on the program.
Andrew Reedy was a starting wide receiver for the Early Longhorns from Day 1 of his freshman year. By year 2, opposing defenses keyed on him, and last year as a junior, almost all Longhorns’ opponents double-covered Reedy.
Through those three years combined, Reedy caught 163 passes for 2,518 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also scored nine rushing touchdowns in 2024 and 2025 combined.
Now preparing for his senior season at Early, the question that begs asking: How did Reedy keep catching so many passes if opposing defenses were focused on stopping him?
The Early Longhorns are ahead of last year’s pace, when first-time head coach and athletic director Marvin Wilson was learning on the run.
“My feet are good and wet now,” said Wilson, who finished 5-6 and gained a share of the district championship in his initial season as Early’s coach. “When we started practice this year, you could tell we were way ahead of last year. Everyone knew what to do, and things went a lot smoother.”
It’s a good thing the Longhorns are ahead of their 2025 pace because the UIL realignment elevated them to Class 3A Division I and placed them in a district with Wall, Llano and Ingram Moore. Wall won the Class 3A DII state championship with a 16-0 record last year before also elevating. Llano (13-2) advanced to the Class 3A DI state semifinals last year, and Ingram (7-6) reached the regional semifinals.
SWEETWATER — The name of Blueford has become nearly synonymous with Sweetwater athletics over the years. And the latest members of that family are currently on the Sweetwater football roster.
Cousins Darwin and Mason Blueford, a pair of SHS receivers, are both second-generations Mustangs whose fathers played for Sweetwater.
But the family tree has deeper roots than that at SHS. In fact, both Darwin and Mason have at least 10 family members, through aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings who have donned the red and white.
And as is the family custom, both cousins are quite athletic.
SWEETWATER — As Year 2 of the Brian Hodnett era begins in Sweetwater, the Mustangs are still in the process of firming up their foundation with 16 lettermen lost to graduation.
At present, seven offensive and six defensive starters are set to return — meaning there is mix of positives and negatives for SHS. Veteran senior quarterback Caden Ortiz (138-of-246, 1,625, 18 TDs) is among the biggest checkmarks on the plus side, now entering his fourth varsity season.
The Mustangs will have a number of capable skill people back among 16 returning lettermen, including senior running back Nick Avila (132 rushes, 730 yards, seven TDs), senior WR Darwin Blueford (48 catches, 532 yards, five TDs), junior WR Mason Blueford, (19 catches, 82 yards, two TDs) and junior WR Cason Fields.
“It’s a situation where we’re trying to turn a negative into a positive,” Hodnett said. “Because of injuries over the last two years we’ve got a lot of guys who will be sophomores and juniors who have had some valuable varsity time because they were forced to play a little early.”
Game photos contributed by TexPix
TUSCOLA — At 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds, Jim Ned’s Cole Chittum doesn’t cast a striking figure.
But at the end of the day, the senior running back/linebacker doesn’t have to.
Bolstered by a low center of gravity, uncommon strength and a fearless approach to contact, the 18-year-old’s performance alone generally makes an impression.
“He’s your typical Jim Ned running back,” Jim Ned coach Johnathon McClure said. “He got significant carries last year (due to) injuries to some of our older guys. … He’s worked really hard in the offseason to improve his overall speed, he has great lateral movement and he’ll be our Day 1 starter at running back.
“He’s a powerful runner for a small guy. He’s hard to bring down and as he gets more and more carries and works with our O-line with his vision, I’m excited to see what he can do.”
TUSCOLA — Two full seasons into his tenure as head football coach at Jim Ned, Johnathon McClure has posted a 20-6 overall record including district and co-district championships.
This year, however, graduation has stripped away much of the talent and experience the Indians had possessed — pushing Jim Ned into one of those youthful phases that all programs face sooner or later.
In total, 21 lettermen from last year’s 11-2 district title team were handed their diplomas, with only 16 experienced players returning. Among them: only one offensive and two defensive starters are back, meaning the Indians have some seasoning to do prior to getting underway in District 2-3A DI.
“We had a great senior class who played for (Jim Ned) for several years and we hated to see those guys go with as much experience as they brought to the table,” McClure said. “But that’s the breaks of the game and everyone is in the same boat. You graduate a group then wait for the next batch.”
In high school football, particularly at the small school level, talent ebbs and flows. And with the exception of the few “reload” programs that can maintain a standard of excellence through heavy graduation losses, a team’s ceiling in a given year is most often determined by the amount of experienced talent it has on its roster.
This is great news for the 2026 Clyde Bulldogs.
After fielding a sophomore-heavy team in 2024, coach Johnathon Haddock rode that nucleus as juniors to a 7-4 record in his second year with the program last year. Entering Year 3 with that talented core “all grown up,” the coach and his staff have well-justified hopes and expectations for a special season in Clyde, America.
In 2025, the Clyde football team took a significant step forward, flipping its record from the season before to finish 7-4 in coach Johnathon Haddock’s second season at the helm.
With almost the entirety of that roster back for another go-round this fall, the Bulldogs are looking to make a similar leap in Haddock’s third year.
CHS returns a remarkable 25 lettermen this season, including nine starters on both sides of the ball, and the Bulldogs are hoping to capitalize on that experience with a special season in 2026.
When Blake Mouser looked at Tolar’s head coaching opening after its 2023 state championship appearance, he knew the Rattlers had a quality senior class returning.
But the then-Vandegrift offensive coordinator also recognized a couple of freshmen who had played in the 2A Division I title game. Kelvin Murray made a 13-yard catch against Timpson, while Cayden Abrego recorded two tackles.
And Mouser’s investigation didn’t end there. He also stumbled across a couple Tolar JV games on Hudl and noticed a freshman named Briton Rice who stayed calm and collected while throwing the football.
“They had a really good junior class coming back, but do they have another quarterback who’s really good?” Mouser said. “Somebody in the future who can throw the ball? He was a playmaker. That’s the first time I saw his name.”
When Blake Mouser looks back at Tolar’s 2025 football season, he sees more than a 4-7 record.
He sees a team that lost three games by a touchdown or less. He sees a team that had young guys in prominent places and a team that gave district champion Jacksboro all it wanted in bi-district.
“Maybe we weren’t a 9-3 or 10-2 team, but we could have been an 8-4 team,” Mouser said. “We had a youth movement, and a bunch of young guys had to come play key roles. When things go bad, we were learning how to not panic and finish games the right way.”
HAMILTON — To say that the Hamilton Tigers had very little football history prior to coach Ryan Marwitz taking over in 2022, is an enormous understatement.
Oddly enough, the Tigers have seldom been really bad — floating in a perpetual mediocre range between three and seven wins per year. They’ve had their share of bi-district appearances, but seldom advanced beyond that point.
Their all-time record illustrates their consistent spot in the middle of the pack, with a 506-524-32 overall mark and an all-time playoff record of 21-19, dating back 1914. Again, not horrible, but not exceptional either.
HAMILTON — Less than a year removed from winning the first state football championship in program history, coach Ryan Marwitz and the Hamilton Bulldogs must now face the inevitable questions directed at every first-time state titlist.
Can they maintain this level of success? Can they stay hungry? How can they replace the key personnel that graduated? And so on and so on.
And while it is true that Hamilton has several key players to replace heading into 2026, there is ample reason to believe that Marwitz’s crew can withstand a move up to Class 3A DII and challenge for the District 5 title. How far they get beyond that point will depend on a few key factors.
After suffering through an 0-10 campaign in his debut as Eastland’s head football coach last season, Matt Landers has kept is nose to the grindstone. His effort to rebuild a winning culture at EHS remains unchanged, though his offense will in 2026.
A devoted option fan, Landers is shifting the Mavericks to a run-first spread attack this year in the belief that it is a better fit and can help the Mavericks pick up their production.
Landers now sits with Evan Ren for a brief chat about his ongoing efforts to revitalize Eastland football, his offensive switch and the reaction of the players in this Big Country Preps Q&A.
EASTLAND — The Mavericks had a rough go of it in 2025, posting a 0-10 mark through multiple injuries while a young group of replacements did their best to keep the ship afloat.
The good news for Eastland is, a large amount of experience returns with nine starters back on both sides of the ball among 18 lettermen.
Despite all the familiar faces, however, there will be some noticeable differences in how second-year coach Matt Landers will be running things in 2026.
Gone will be the flexbone option offense the Mavericks were using a year ago — replaced by a spread look to help the Mavs open things up a bit. Gone will be the even fronts often shown by the Eastland defense last year. Instead, the Mavericks will commit to an aggressive 3-3 stack full-time — a look they had experimented with some last year.
Every coach wishes they had a Joe Salinas.
Someone that plays physically, never takes a snap off and will do whatever he’s asked.
When Dublin coach Greg Hardcastle needed a quarterback after losing a couple Lions to injury early last season, Salinas was the obvious candidate to handle the position.
“He’s going to do whatever he needs to do to help the team,” Hardcastle said. “He’s a great teammate, and he’s that same way in everything he does. He’s one of those kids who if someone needs help with anything, he’ll get it done. It’s the way he’s been raised.”
Dublin doesn’t have a big senior class to lean on.
But what the Lions do have is a strong junior class that gained plenty of experience during last year’s 1-9 record when they were sophomores.
“We’ve got a good core group that gained a lot of experience, and now that they’re juniors, they’re a little more mature,” Dublin coach Greg Hardcastle said. “I feel like it’s going to help us in the long run. Another year in the weight room plus being experienced and comfortable in our system.”
Among the veteran juniors is Joe Salinas, who is Dublin’s leading returning rusher with 380 yards and six touchdowns. Jayden Balvantin is a talented lineman who can play anywhere up front, while Kyler Gaitan and Hudsen Joslin are versatile skill players.
COMANCHE — Call it an investment. Call it public service. Call it what you will. Both are correct.
At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what you call the Comanche football program’s efforts to clean up its community in the summer and spread some Christmas cheer each December. The town benefits from it, and so do many people who are less fortunate than others.
The brainchild of sixth-year football coach Jake Escobar, the program involves roaming groups of Comanche football players who search out various locations that may need some clean up.
“People will message me saying ‘I’ve got some things I need to clean up,” Escobar said. “Do you have a couple of kids who can come help?
“Because they know that if they post that an area needs to be cleaned up our kids are always willing to help — always.”
COMANCHE— After battling through a tough schedule with a young team last season, the Comanche Indians are poised for a step forward from their 5-5 record of 2025.
The numbers at CHS are a source of great optimism in the Indian camp and frankly, they should be.
Aside from seven starters returning on both sides of the football, the Indians will have 25 returning lettermen after losing only eight. They will so be getting help and added depth from players promoted from an 8-2 JV team, bolstering their expected roster size to around 35 players.
“I’m not going to sugar coat it,” Comanche coach Jake Escobar said. “I feel like we’re going to be pretty good. We’ve had a good off-season and I think our summer workouts have been really good. … That’s going to lead up to a good season, I hope.”
MERKEL — When one sees Merkel’s Easton “Moose” Malone standing on the sidelines for the first time, they may assume he’s an offensive or defensive lineman. At 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds, he’s certainly big enough to take on both challenges.
Well, he is neither.
In fact, Malone is so athletic, that he is the Badgers’ starting quarterback — with equally dangerous abilities to pass and run. And when he’s not behind center, he’s occupying the middle of the Merkel defense, as a sure-footed, quick, sound-tacking middle linebacker.
Since his freshman year, he’s gone from a ninth-grader seeking respect to an upper classman whose name precedes him. And he has a level of confidence to illustrate it.
MERKEL — When examining the 2026 Merkel football team two things become apparent: First, the Badgers will have their share of skill, including one of the area’s most athletic quarterbacks in junior Easton “Moose” Malone.
But secondly, Merkel will be smallish up front defensively, making the Badgers a target for teams that like to pound the football. And solving this potential dilemma could be the key for MHS to have a successful campaign.
In the meantime, the numbers are far from terrible. Third-year coach Wes Wood returns seven offensive and five defensive starters from last year’s 7-5 club that pushed two rounds deep into the playoffs. A modest 13 lettermen are back on a roster that is expected to be around 24 players, with incoming help from a solid 6-3-1 JV team.
At 6-foot and 225 pounds, Will Treadway is built more like a linebacker than a defensive tackle. But if there’s any question about his fitness for his position, a quick glance at his stat sheet will answer that in a hurry.
Coming off a junior campaign in which he amassed an impressive 93 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and nine sacks, the Jacksboro standout enters 2026 as one of the area’s top defensive linemen, regardless of classification.
And lest you wonder, for coach Casey Hubble, Treadway’s size — and the athleticism that comes with it — is a feature, not a bug, in the Tigers’ 4-3 defensive scheme.
With an average of just over nine wins per season over the past four years, including district championships in 2023 and 2025, the Jacksboro football program has been consistently successful under coach Casey Hubble.
So it should surprise no one that the Tigers have set their sights high once again this fall.
Boasting an experienced roster with 19 returning lettermen, including eight starters on both sides of the football, JHS will have a seasoned squad with which to pursue its lofty goals. And Hubble is expecting another strong campaign from that talented bunch, despite a tough new district that features Holliday, Henrietta, Wichita Falls City View, Merkel and Breckenridge.
BRECKENRIDGE — As he walks through the hallways at Breckenridge High School, senior offensive linemen Joacim Fernandez maintains a soft-spoken, friendly demeanor.
Once he puts on a helmet and steps onto a football field, however, Mr. Nice Guy does a vanishing act. And in his stead, Joacim (pronounced Joe-Seem) becomes one of the most intimidating and aggressive players in the Big Country.
Now beginning his third and final varsity season, Fernandez has added an additional 17 pounds to his frame via fanatical effort in the weight room and will enter this season as a 6-foot-1, 265-pound offensive line that the Buckaroos are looking at as a leader up front.
BRECKENRIDGE — The late great NFL coach George Allen once said that “there’s no substitute for experience.” His track record proved him correct, since he continually loaded his roster with aging players, yet never once suffered a losing record in 12 seasons of coaching in the NFL.
If Allen’s philosophy holds true in Breckenridge, the Buckaroos could be on their way to a season above .500 and another trip to postseason play in 2026 — assuming they can avoid the injury bug.
Coming off a 4-7 campaign, coach Casey Pearce has eight starters back on both sides of the football among 20 lettermen and at least 10 notable players who are seniors or juniors.